But the defendant and the judge fully agreed about the fairness of the sentence he imposed in federal court.

“Even though you have been involved in drugs and drug dealing,” Judge
Vinson told Ms. George, “your role has basically been as a girlfriend
and bag holder and money holder but not actively involved in the drug
dealing, so certainly in my judgment it does not warrant a life
sentence.”

Yet the judge had no other option on that morning 15 years ago. As her
stunned family watched, Ms. George, then 27, who had never been accused
of violence, was led from the courtroom to serve a sentence of life
without parole.

Is this the kind of thing that the framers of the Constitution had in
mind when they set the thing in place? We need an Amendment that anyone
can invoke that immediately makes the punishment fit the crime. In this
case the woman said that she wasn't even aware that there was any criminal activity going on. What is this Government against the people stuff?

Comment by Olde Reb

Entered on: 12/13/2012 10:21:16 AM

the system did not fail. the system worked. the prison system needs workers that are hired out to the states or are forced to work for 25 cents an hour. UNICOR. Germany had such a system during the 1930's, six different offenses, including being homosexual, unemployed, politically incorrect, a violent criminal, or the wrong religion, would put you in the German camps.